Railway-tie.



J. W. CLARK, JR.

RAILWAY TIE.

APPLICATION IILED DEO.10, 1913 Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

awu zmto'a W4 7% 215/ W wi/bwcooeo TE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. CLARK, JR., OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

RAILWAY-TIE.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN V. CLARK, J12, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway- Ties; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to cross ties for railway tracks, the objects being to provide a simple and efficient form of tie, the major portion of which may be cheaply constructed from metal, while the direct supports for the rails are formed by cushion blocks which may conveniently be of wood and of small size, as compared with the ordinary ties so as to reduce the quantity of the wood necessary, and at the same time secure all of the advantages incident to the use of wooden ties, such, for example, as supporting the rails on an elastic base, the securing of the rails in position by ordinary fastenings or spikes, and the insulation of the rails so as to render them effective as conductors in the usual automatic signaling systems.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,Fi 'ure l is a perspective view of a tie embodying the present improvements; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a slightly modified arrangement of the members which compose the tie, and means for securing the cushion blocks in place; Fig. 3 is a section view taken transversely of the tie shown in Fig. 1, to illustrate the preferred arrangement of the cushion block securing means; Fig. i is a top plan view of one end of the tie with a portion of the cushion block securing means broken away and in section, to illustrate the shoulders for preventing longitudinal movement of the block and tie body.

Like letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

The body of the tie is preferably formed of sheet metal bent up into substantially trough shape, that is to say, with vertical sides A, and a substantially fiat bottom portion A. This trough-shaped body, by reason of its form, is substantially rigid and yetpossesses a suflicient inherent resiliency to relieve the rolling stock from the vibrations Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 10, 1913.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914;.

Serial No. 805,771.

incident to an absolute rigid bed, but in order to increase this effect, as Well as to secure advantages which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the rails are not supported directly on the metal portion of the tie, but are seated on cushion blocks B. These cushion blocks are fitted into the trough-shaped body portion of the tie in proper position with relation to the ends of the tie for receiving the rails, and are comparatively short, their length being only sufficient to afford the necessary strength to support the rails and retain the rail fastening means such as spikes ordinarily employed, for securing the rails in place.

In the preferred construction the cushion blocks are of wood rectangular in cross section and fit accurately in the trough-shaped body of the tie, if desired, the dimensions being uniform so that the blocks may be turned up-side-down or either side may be utilized as the top or rail supporting surface. The blocks are clamped in place in the tie body by fastening means which extend around the outside of the tie body and blocks, longitudinal movement of the blocks in the tie bodies being prevented by the engagement of the fastening means with suit able oppositely facing shoulders on the tie body. These oppositely facing shoulders may take various forms, thus, for example, as shown in Fig. 1, shoulders may be formed by the upper edge portions of the tie body, which are notched for this purpose and bent outwardly as at C, or the edge portions of the body may be simply notched or cutaway, forming shoulders as at D in Fig. 2, and either as a substitute for this arrangement or supplementing the same, shoulders may be formed in the side walls of the tie body by binding out portions thereof in the form of projections or lugs E, as also shown in Fig. 2.

The fastening means employed preferably consist of U-shaped bolts F having their extremities screw-threaded for the reception of nuts f, the bolts being of such size as to closely embrace the lower portion of the tie body and cushion blocks confined therein, and adapted at their free ends to receive top plates G, which plates extend across the cushion blocks and are clamped down on the top of the cushion blocks by the aforesaid nuts and bolts. In addition, the plates are preferably provided with downoose-ii wardly turned edge portions 5 for embracing? the ends of the cushion blocks. @bviously, either the ll-shaped bolts or the top plates may cooperate with the shoulders on the tie body to prevent relative longitudinal. movement of the parts, for while the bolts are shown as cooperating with the oppositely facing boulders in Fig. l, the plates are shown in position for performing this function in Fig. 2, the dil'lerence being that in one instance the cushion blocks are made relatively thick, whereby the plates are lifted a considerable distance above the edges of the tie, and in the other instance said blocks are of such thickness as to permit the plates to lie close to the edges of the tie or within the recessed notched portions of the tie walls. In order to make the clamping action more effective, it is prei erred that the lower corners oi? the tie at the points where the fastening devices pass around the same shall be notched out as at H, whereby the fastening devices will bear against the lo er edges of the cushion blocks ill consequently become more or less embedded therein, thus giving an additional factor of safety, in that the whole structure will be bound together as one unit. The construction designed to be such that the cushion blocks will be retained in position nd the sides of the tie braced against detlection even though the fastening devices should become loosened or wear on the cushion blocks should permit of a slight lateral or longitudinal movement within the fastening devices.

In lieu of the U-shaped bolts, top and bottom plates might be employed with straight bolts on each side of the tie as shown at K and L, respectively, in Fig. 2, although it is preferred that ill-shaped bolts be employed because of the additional rigidity secured thereby.

in use, the tie may be completely set up with the cushion blocks clamped in place before the tie is placed in position in the road bed and the rails are secured to the cushion blocks by ordinary spikes or fastening devices which pass into the cushion blocks between the top places. The cushion blocks are clamped tightly at their ends,

and

and hence there is little danger of their being split by the rail liastenings, with the result that relatively short blocks may be employed, thus materially economizing the quantity of wood required. Furthermore, the wood is so incased by the metal as to be very largely protected against destructive influences, which materially reduce the life of ordinary wooden ties.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent oi the United Sta'es is:

1. it railway tie comprising a metal trough-like body having oppositely facing shoulders near each end, cushion blocks i i in the bony in proximity to said shoulders nd. projecting at the top of the body to form the rail seats and. fastening devices passing around the outside of the body and cushion blocks for clamping the 1 me together, said fastening devices seating inst the shoulders on the body to prevent relative longitudinal m vement oi the cushion blocks and body.

Li railway tie comprising a metal trough-like body having its side walls formed with pairs of oppositely facing shoulders near its opposite ends, independ ent cushion blocks seated in the body in proximity to the shoulders to form rail seats, and fastening devices passing around the outside t the body and cushion blocks for clamping the same together, said fastening devices seating against the shoulders to n'event relative longitudinal displacement oi the blocl-Is and body.

3. A railway tie comprising a metal troughdike body having its side walls formed with pairs of oppositely facing shoulders near its opposite ends and oi: substantially rectangular form in cross section, independent cushion blocks of rectangular :torm in cross section, seated in the body in proximity to the shoulders to form rail seats, and clamping fastening devices passing around the outside of the body, and cushion blocks at opposite ends of the blocks and seating against the shoulders on the side walls of the body, whereby the blocks and body will be held against relative longitudinal movement, substantially as described.

i. ii railway tie comprising a metal trough-like body having its side Walls formed with pairs of oppositely facing shoulders near its opposite ends and having its lower corners recessed, independent cushion blocks seated in the body in proximity to the shoulders and recesses to form rail seats and fastening devices passing around the outside of the body and cushion blocls and cooperating with the cushion bloc at both top and bottom to clamp the and body together, said fastening mice is devices cooperating with the shoulders on the body to prevent relative longitudinal displacement of the parts.

5.1a railway tie comprising a metal troughdike body having its opposite side walls recessed in the upper edge to form oppositely facing shoulders near its ends, 'ndependent cushion blocks seated in the body in proximity to the shoulders to form rail seats and fastening devices embodying clampn members seating against said shoulders, for clamping the blocks and tie body together and preventing relative longitudinal movement of the same.

6. It railway tie comprising a metal trough-like body having its side Walls formed with outwardly extending projections forming oppositely facing shoulders in proximity to its opposite ends, independent cushion blocks seated in the body in proximity to the shoulders to form rail seats and fastening devices extending around the outside of the body and cushion blocks to clamp the same together, said fastening defices seating against the shoulders to prevent relative longitudinal displacement of the parts.

7. A railway tie comprising a metal trough-like body having its side walls formed with pairs of oppositely facing shoulders near its opposite ends and having its lower corners notched, independent cushion blocks seated in said body in proximity to the shoulders and notches to form rail seats, U-shaped bolts extending around the body and blocks and seating in the said notches, and top plates connecting the upper end of the U-shaped bolts, said top plates having downwardly extending flanges embracing the ends of the cushion blocks, there being a space between the proximate edges of the top plates, sufficient to admit the rails and the fastening devices for the rails, substantially as described.

JOHN W. CLARK, JR.

lVitnesses:

J. W. STHINGFELLOW, H, L. CUMMINGS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

